James M. Mead

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James M. Mead
Official U.S. Senate Portrait
In office December 3, 1938–March 3, 1947
Preceded by	Royal S. Copeland
Succeeded by	Irving M. Ives

Born	December 27, 1885(1885-12-27) Mount Morris, Livingston County, New York
Died	March 15, 1964 (aged 78) Lakeland, Polk County, Florida
Political party	Democratic
Residence	Buffalo, Erie County, New York
Religion	Roman Catholic

James Michael Mead (December 27, 1885 – March 15, 1964) represented New York in the United States Senate from 1938 until 1947.

Born in Mount Morris, Livingston County, New York, Mead moved to Buffalo with his family at the age of four. He served on the Erie County, New York Board of Supervisors (County Council) in 1914, then represented New York’s 4th District in the State Assembly from 1915-1918.

In 1918, Mead defeated incumbent Republican congressman William Frederick Waldow for New York’s 42nd District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. He held the seat from 1919 to 1938. Mead left the house after defeating Republican Edward F. Corsi to fill the U.S. Senate seat left vacant after Royal S. Copeland died in office. He was re-elected in 1940, defeating two-term Republican Congressman Bruce Barton. Senator Mead served from 1938 to 1947. He was not a candidate for re-election in 1946, opting instead to run for governor.

Mead was the Democratic candidate for Governor of New York in 1946, losing to Republican incumbent Thomas Dewey. After his defeat, Mead served on the Federal Trade Commission from 1949 to 1955.

Mead was a New York delegate to Democratic National Convention in every presidential election year from 1936 to 1952. In 1937, the Works Progress Administration built what would eventually become the James Mead Library in Senator Mead’s hometown of Buffalo, New York.

Mead died in Lakeland, Polk County, Florida and was buried at Oakhill Cemetery in Clermont, Florida.

Office	Type	Location	Party	Elected	Took Office	Left Office
U.S. Representative, New York 42nd District	Legislature	Washington, DC	Democrat	1918	March 4, 1919	March 3, 1921
U.S. Representative, New York 42nd District	Legislature	Washington, DC	Democrat	1920	March 4, 1921	March 3, 1923
U.S. Representative, New York 42nd District	Legislature	Washington, DC	Democrat	1922	March 4, 1923	March 3, 1925
U.S. Representative, New York 42nd District	Legislature	Washington, DC	Democrat	1924	March 4, 1925	March 3, 1927
U.S. Representative, New York 42nd District	Legislature	Washington, DC	Democrat	1926	March 4, 1927	March 3, 1929
U.S. Representative, New York 42nd District	Legislature	Washington, DC	Democrat	1928	March 4, 1929	March 3, 1931
U.S. Representative, New York 42nd District	Legislature	Washington, DC	Democrat	1930	March 4, 1931	March 3, 1933
U.S. Representative, New York 42nd District	Legislature	Washington, DC	Democrat	1932	March 4, 1933	March 3, 1935
U.S. Representative, New York 42nd District	Legislature	Washington, DC	Democrat	1934	March 4, 1935	March 3, 1937
U.S. Representative, New York 42nd District	Legislature	Washington, DC	Democrat	1936	March 4, 1937	December 2, 1938
U.S. Senator (Class 1) from New York	Legislature	Washington, DC	Democrat	1938	December 3, 1938	March 3, 1941
U.S. Senator (Class 1) from New York	Legislature	Washington, DC	Democrat	1940	March 4, 1941	March 3, 1947

[edit] Election results

Year	Office	Subject	Party	Votes	%	Opponent	Party	Votes	%
1918	U.S. Representative, New York 42nd District	James M. Mead	Democratic		Won	William Frederick Waldow	Republican		Lost
1920	U.S. Representative, New York 42nd District	James M. Mead	Democratic	22,869	48.3%	C. Hamilton Cook	Republican	21,224	44.9%
1922	U.S. Representative, New York 42nd District	James M. Mead	Democratic	25,070	61.9%	Louis F. Schwendler	Republican	12,494	30.9%
1924	U.S. Representative, New York 42nd District	James M. Mead	Democratic	28,152	50.1%	Richard S. Persons	Republican	25,236	44.9%
1926	U.S. Representative, New York 42nd District	James M. Mead	Democratic	28,873	52.6%	John Buno McGrath	Republican	19,362	35.3%
1928	U.S. Representative, New York 42nd District	James M. Mead	Democratic	44,373	55.1%	C. Hamilton Cook	Republican	31,785	39.5%
1930	U.S. Representative, New York 42nd District	James M. Mead	Democratic	33,195	65.6%	Frank A. Dorn	Republican	16,072	31.8%
1932	U.S. Representative, New York 42nd District	James M. Mead	Democratic	51,516	62.0%	Henry Adsit Bull	Republican	30,230	36.4%
1934	U.S. Representative, New York 42nd District	James M. Mead	Democratic	49,251	61.6%	Walter J. Lohr	Republican	26,036	32.6%
1936	U.S. Representative, New York 42nd District	James M. Mead	Democratic	57,132	56.4%	Eugene D. Crooker	Republican	32,395	32.0%
1938	U.S. Senator (Class 1) from New York	James M. Mead	Democratic	2,438,904	50.7%	Edward F. Corsi	Republican	2,083,666	43.3%
1940	U.S. Senator (Class 1) from New York	James M. Mead	Democratic	3,274,766	49.9%	Bruce Barton	Republican	3,027,478	46.1%
1946	Governor of New York	James M. Mead	Democratic		Lost	Thomas E. Dewey	Republican		Won

[edit] References

James M. Mead at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives Election Statistics.

Preceded by ?	New York State Assembly, Erie County 4th District 1915–1918	Succeeded by ?
Preceded by William F. Waldow	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 42nd congressional district 1919–1938	Succeeded by Pius L. Schwert
Preceded by Royal S. Copeland	U.S. Senator (Class 1) from New York 1938–1947	Succeeded by Irving M. Ives
Preceded by John J. Bennett, Jr.	Democratic Nominee for Governor of New York 1946	Succeeded by Walter A. Lynch

v • d • e United States Senators from New York

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